1. In the Bond movie Diamonds are Forever, Sean Connery uses a bottle of Courvoisier Cognac to ignite his opponent.
2. In the movies where Bond is played by Daniel Craig much later, M and Gareth Mallory, played by Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes share a glass of Courvoisier.
3. The Cognac brand was created in the dying embers of the French Revolution when the country began to recover.
4. Napoleon gave a ration of Cognac to troops to lift morale during the Napoleonic Wars.
5. After being defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled to the island of St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean. Legend has it that he took a few casks of Cognac as his granted item of luxury.
The legendary history of Courvoisier Cognac goes back to the early 1800s, when Emmanuel Courvoisier and Louis Gallois founded a wine merchant’s business in Paris.
Soon after, their sons, Felix and Jules, figured out that Cognac was their true passion and they moved the business to Jarnac in the heart of the Cognac region to start up Courvoisier in 1828.
Felix Courvoisier died without a son, so his nephews and their families continued the Cognac tradition until the early 20th century when the English family Simon bought the Cognac house. The Simons created a strong international brand identity with a new logo of the silhouette of Napoleon for the bottles.
Courvoisier Today
Courvoisier is the only Cognac producer that controls the entire process from grape to bottle, working with smaller producers in the region that have supplied them throughout generations. By doing this, they want to ensure that the quality remains as perfect as it has always been.
What is Courvoisier made of? The brand is made up of various blends, and the goal is to blend the Cognacs so that the aromas and flavors remain the same every year, which is rare compared to other manufacturers, whose blends differ from year to year.
Pierre Szersnovicz, whose father ran the largest Courvoisier distillery for decades, is part of the blending team, but at the same time global brand ambassador of Courvoisier, which shows that today, Marketing plays a crucial role in distributing Courvoisier liquor internationally.
If you want to know the difference between Courvoisier and Hennessy, we recommend that you take a look at our blog post where we look at
the Big Four Cognac houses alongside one another.
Courvoisier Awards and Bottles
Our shop features a range of Vintage Courvoisier bottles alongside the latest limited releases.
Courvoisier re-launched its famous Josephine bottle and invited legendary fashion designer Vivienne Westwood to design the bottle. The company continues to introduce such innovative collaborations, strengthening a unique position amongst competitors such as Rémy Martin, Hennessy or Martell.
In 2007 Courvoisier Napoleon Fine Champagne won a double gold medal at the San Francisco Spirit Awards and in 2009 Courvoisier Exclusif won the Best Overall Cognac Award at the same prestigious awards.
In 2006 Courvoisier was the first luxury spirits label that launched a perfume, a men’s fragrance called “L’Edition Imperiale”.
Visit Courvoisier
Courvoisier boasts an entirely renovated museum in Jarnac, France with multimedia presentations and a range of guided tours, where all historical material can be sighted, even a lock of Napoleon’s hair!
Visits to the museum and the cellars from May to October, 9.30am to 5pm every day. For special arrangements from November to April, please contact Courvoisier directly under +33 5 45 35 56 16 or +33 5 45 35 55 87.
